Posted by Forrest Brownell on August 05, 1997 at 21:48:29:
In Reply to: WH - Frostbite posted by Phil Winterbourne on August 05, 1997 at 14:24:26:
A postscript to my earlier letter on this subject:
When Ransome had the doctor in Winter Holiday recommend rubbing with
snow as a treatment for frostbite (on page 171 of the Godine edition,
at the start of Chapter XIV, 'Nancy Takes a Hand'), he was accurately
reflecting the informed medical opinion of his day.
A little lunch-hour research has unearthed the following quote, taken
from the 11th edition (1943) of the U.S. Navy's Bluejackets' Manual.
NB Medicine has moved on since 1943. What follows is no longer accepted
practice; it is, in fact, absolutely counterindicated in the treatment
of frostbite.
If the case [of frostbite] is mild and some reaction from the extreme cold
has begun, rub the part lightly.... If the part is still dead and
cold, combine the rubbing with the use of wet snow or ice water and, as
circulation begins to return, use water not so cold [my italics].